Carlson: "I wish David Vitter were a Democrat... because then I would defend him every bit as zealously."

Tucker Carlson has defended The Daily Caller's reporting on Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) patronizing prostitutes in the Dominican Republic as "traditional, straightforward journalism" as that story has come under fire. But when Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) was accused of patronizing prostitutes in 2007, Carlson defended Vitter and lambasted the media for digging into what he described as private matters that were no business of theirs.

This week the story has unraveled after the Washington Postand ABC News reported that one of the prostitutes who alleged that she had sex with Menendez has recanted her story in an affidavit and claimed that she was paid to lie about the senator. ABC further reported that they also looked into the story last year but decided not to run it because they doubted the women that they and the Caller had spoken to were telling the truth.

Despite the availability of expenditure reports showing that Sen. John McCain's campaign used a corporate jet owned by his wife's company over a seven-month period beginning in the summer of 2007, several members of the media asserted earlier this year that McCain flew coach when the campaign was low on funds.

After MSNBC's Tucker Carlson noted that Howard Dean reportedly said that the Democratic presidential field "looks like America," while the Republican field, made up of white males, "looks like the 1950s and talks like the 1850s," Pat Buchanan reported being "offended" by Dean's remarks and said: "[W]hat did white males do? OK, they were the only guys signing the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, all the dead at Gettysburg, all the dead at Normandy." In fact, "nearly 2,000" African-Americans took part in the Normandy invasion, at least some of whom apparently died as a result, and at least one woman and one African-American were reportedly killed in the Gettysburg campaign.

Referring to a Newsday article about Hillary Clinton's representation of a man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl, Tucker Carlson said on his MSNBC program: "Now their defense is, 'Well, that's what lawyers are supposed to do.' In other words, it's legal, therefore it's allowed. I guess my response would be, it's still repulsive and immoral." In fact, the Newsday article made clear that legal experts agreed that Clinton was simply fulfilling her legal and ethical obligation as the defendant's lawyer, a job she was reportedly assigned by the court.

Discussing recent comments by Michelle Obama, Tucker Carlson said: "I have thought from Day One that Michelle Obama, impressive as she is, clearly intelligent, very handsome, self-possessed -- I think that she's got a chip on her shoulder." Similarly, Slate.com blogger Mickey Kaus wrote of Michelle Obama: "For whatever reason, she sure seems to have a non-trivial chip on her shoulder and it's not a winning quality." Additionally, referring to a February 16 Newsweek profile, VDARE.com contributor Steve Sailer wrote that Michelle Obama "sounds like she's got a log-sized chip on her shoulder from lucking into Princeton due to affirmative action."

Just days after NBC apologized for the use of the word "cunt" on Today, Republican consultant Roger Stone, who recently established the anti-Hillary Clinton group Citizens United Not Timid -- which emphasizes its acronym on its website and on T-shirts by bolding the first letter in each word of its name and purports to "educate the American public about what Hillary Clinton really is" -- appeared on MSNBC's Tucker.

Addressing a remark he made about Chelsea Clinton's work on her mother's campaign -- "doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way" -- MSNBC's David Shuster stated that "last night, I used a phrase -- some slang about her efforts. ... [T]o the extent that people feel I was being pejorative, I apologize for that. I should have seen that people might view it that way, and for that, then I'm sorry." However, Shuster never mentioned the specific "slang" he used in reference to Chelsea Clinton's campaign work, and he falsely claimed that, during the same segment in which he referred to her "being pimped out," he said "Americans should be proud of [Chelsea]" and that "everybody, all of us, love" her.

Discussing what he described as "slavish" and "slobbering" media coverage of Sen. Barack Obama, Tucker Carlson stated: "And I will freely confess that I am absolutely part of the problem. I give the guy a pass at every turn and I'm nice to him even though I disagree with him." In fact, over the past year, Carlson has leveled personal attacks against Obama and spread misinformation about him.

After airing a video clip of Sen. Hillary Clinton talking about "gender equality" during a Democratic presidential candidates debate, MSNBC host Tucker Carlson stated: "It takes a lot of guts for a rich, privileged white lady who is one of the most powerful people in the world to claim that she is a victim of gender discrimination."

While discussing Hillary Clinton with fellow radio host Jay Severin, Don Imus asked, "Well, why do we think that we -- I mean, why don't we just select [Venezuelan President] Hugo Chavez, then, if we want some rabid nut? I mean, why do we think that that's a face we want to put on America?" Severin answered: "I think you've got that, that's pretty much it. With Hillary Clinton you've got Hugo Chavez in a dress, and about the same size." Separately, discussing John Edwards' performance in the Nevada caucus, MSNBC's Tucker Carlson asserted, "It turns out that Hugo Chavez and his ideas are still not that popular in this country, liberal as it's become. That's the lesson I take away."

On the January 14 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, while discussing Sen. Barack Obama's speech at the Pentecostal Temple Church of God and Christ in Las Vegas, host Tucker Carlson asserted that "many black churches are basically political organizations."

On the December 13 edition of Tucker, Norah O'Donnell asserted that during the same day's Hardball, Clinton adviser Mark Penn "once again brought up cocaine -- twice" in relation to Sen. Barack Obama and later claimed that Penn "on his own brought up cocaine." In fact, the entire Hardball segment was devoted to controversial remarks regarding Obama's past drug use made by Clinton's campaign co-chair, who later resigned. Chris Matthews explicitly asked Penn at least three distinct questions about the topic, and Penn had offered at least two specific responses before he used the word "cocaine."

MSNBC's Tucker Carlson called Sen. Barack Obama a "wuss" and a "BS artist," citing Obama's response to the question, "What does the word 'Clintonian' mean to you?" during a recent ABC News interview. Carlson asserted that "[h]e should just [have] come out and sa[id], 'Yeah, [Sen. Hillary Clinton is] Clintonian.' ... 'That's why they call it Clintonian.' " He later claimed that people "who plan to vote for her know that she is Clintonian in her answers. I mean, that's seen as a good thing a lot of the time. Why doesn't Barack Obama have the gumption, the moxie, the toughness?"